The Living Dead Girl — The Living Dead Girl( UHD/ Blu Ray)
The Living Dead Girl was the 31st feature film from French director Jean Rollin. It’s very much of a crossbreed bringing together the macabre and tragic gothic of his earlier work, with the extreme gore of the 1980’s. It regards a blond-haired heiress who is brought back to life by a toxic spill, to become a blood-sucking, later mentally tortured zombie.Here from Powerhouse, as part of their series of reissues of Rollin’s work, is either a UHD or Blu-ray release of the film. It takes in a new 4k scan of the picture, two versions of the movie, a new commentary track, and a mix of new/archive extras.
The Living Dead Girl ( La Morte Vivante) appeared in the year 1982. It was directed and co-written by Rollin. With other writing credits going to Jacques Ralf (Mont-Dragon, The Escapees) and Gregory K. Heller (Alphabet City ). I’d say compared with some of Rollin’s work, it's better scripted- with a flowing, largely conventional storyline, though of course we do still have moments of macabre arty dwells you’d expect from the director's work.
After a brief shot of a nuclear plant, we open with a pair of cowboy workmen dumping barrels of toxic waste in an underground cave. Via a small passageway, the pair make it into the crypt of the Valmont family- crowbarring open the coffins to steal jewels off the bodies. One of the men is awed at the beauty of Catherine (Françoise Blanchard)- a heiress who died two or so years back. All of a sudden, the ground shakes- one of the barrels topples over, and splits- pouring liquid & fumes into the crypt.
This reanimates Caterine- and within the first ten minutes, we’ve had two examples of brutal gore- one man gets his eyes poked out, and the other his throat slashed open. After this, the gore does ease back, but we do get more moments throughout the film taking in more bloody & screaming throat slashings, and a few prolonged bloody gut pulls & screaming sessions.
As the film unfolds, we get introduced to a few other characters- there’s a young moped-riding estate agent, an American photographer and his curious girlfriend, and Hélène(Marina Pierro), a childhood friend of Catherine who just wants to help.
Location-wise, we switch between a large chateau, which is the Valmont family home- it’s up for sale, and the family crypt sits under it. The local village and the long grassed countryside.
Blanchard is most effective as the back-from-the-dead heiress- she starts off as a mindless flesh-ripping & blood drinking fiend, but over time her senses, reason, and voice return as she becomes a very tortured and sad character.
The blending of the more atmospheric gothic and brutal gore elements is very well done, as when the latter appears, it’s often jarring, emotionally intense, and troubling.
Over the years, I’ve seen most of Mr Rollin’s Filmography, but this was my first time watching The Living Dead Girl. It certainly stands up to the best of his work, with its mix of atmosphere and gore, and the latter most certainly nods towards the new French extreme of the early 2000’s.
The release features two versions of the film- the standard theatrical version, and Scare, a rare Austrian VHS version of the film presented in standard definition, with German dialogue and an alternative synth score. Both run around the hour & a half mark, and I watched the theatrical version for my review.
The film gets a lovely new 4k scan, which enhances most elements of the film very well. Yes, some of the effects do look a little more rubbery/ not as good- but this type of thing can’t be helped, and to be honest, unless your micro focused on this element, it is not noticeable.
On the all-new extras side, we get a few worthy/ interesting things. First off, we get commentary with film historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby. And as we’ve come to expect from these two commentary track pros, it’s a wonderful, researched and observed fair, with some nice touches of humorous banter. They begin by declaring this is one of Rollins' most extreme films, which, like much of his filmography, is rife with imagery you’ve never seen from any other director before. We find out that the director felt the chemical spill didn’t go as well as he hoped, and we get interesting bios for each of the actors in the crypt scene. They briefly comment on how both of the corpses are very well preserved, especially Catherine, who was meant to have been buried two years ago. We find out that the effects in the film were done by a then seventeen-year-old Benoît Lestang, who went on to work on the likes of Brain Damage (1988), Baby Blood (1988), and Martyrs ( 2008)- he tragically took his own life in 2008, aged just forty three years old. We find out the film started shooting in July 1982, going on to get a cinema release on the 22nd of June 1983. They talk about the career of the moives producer Sam Selsky- who produced early Rollin films, and has a small cameo in the film. We get quotes from the director regarding the filming. Later on, they talk about the intense snobbery towards the horror genre in France during the 70’s/ 80’s- so as a result, it got little or no reviews. They discuss how well Rollin shot both the interior and exterior of the Chateau, and of course, much more- most certainly a track I’ll play again.
Also on the totally new side is the following: Convulsive Beauty (33.32), which finds author/ genre expert Stephen Thrower discussing the film. He starts by discussing how this was Rollin's most violent film, with old fans of his work having mixed feelings about it. He talks about how the picture manages to balance several different styles. He discusses the influence of David Cronberg and George A. Romero on the film, and Rollin’s other work. He gives a bio of lead actress Françoise Blanchard- we find out she also appeared in two Jess Franco films, and most fascinatingly, an unreleased Franco film entitled Aids- Plague Of The 20th Century. He discusses why he doesn’t think the American characters in the movie work. He talks about how no one is sure where much of the film was shot, though he’s managed to work out where the village is in the film. There’s Souvenirs de ‘La Morte vivante’ (15.12): a documentary on the making of the film by Rollin’s personal assistant Daniel Gouyette, featuring interviews with Rollin associates Jean-Pierre Bouyxou and Alain Petit. The Music of ‘La Morte vivante’ (14.47): d’Aram revisits his score. Benoît Lestang, 17 ans (24.47): documentary on the innovative special-effects designer and make-up artist, with contributions from Rollin, Bouyxou, Petit, and Lestang himself. Dead or Alive (15.33): documentary on the now-lost English-language American version of The Living Dead Girl, with Bouyxou and Petit.
On the newly re-edited/ archive side, we have the following: Jean Rollin Introduces ‘The Living Dead Girl’(1.44). Blood Ties (11.46): interview with Rollin. Jean Rollin on ‘The Living Dead Girl’ (2.23): the director in conversation at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival. Delicate Deadliness (18.38): career-spanning archival interview with Blanchard. Deliberately Absurd (24.47): an interview in which Bouyxou talks about his work with Rollin and Jesús Franco. Sound Bites (17.26): newly edited archival interview with composer Philippe d’Aram. Jean Rollin at Fantasia (36.22): documentary about Rollin’s time at the festival. Outtakes ( 1.41). There’s a 2003 Audio commentary with director Jean Rollin. And selected scenes audio commentary with actor Françoise Blanchard from 2005 Original theatrical trailer & Image galleries.
The finished release comes with an eighty-page book with a new essay by Will Sloan, an extract from the film’s pressbook, archival writing by Jean Rollin on the making of the film, an archival interview with the director by Peter Blumenstock, and full film credits.
In finishing The Living Dead Girl, is a most effective blending of macabre and tragic gothic with extreme gore. Once again, Powerhouse has done a wonderful job with this reissue- with a lovely new 4k scan, and a great selection of extras